Blood product from US for tots

Frozen plasma is to be imported from the US and used in the treatment of newborn babies and young children to reduce the risk of them contracting the human form of mad cow disease, the Department of Health has said.

Frozen plasma is to be imported from the US and used in the treatment of newborn babies and young children to reduce the risk of them contracting the human form of mad cow disease, the Department of Health has said.

The product is intended for children born after 1995, as they would not have been exposed to BSE through the food chain, a DoH spokesman said.

Earlier this month it emerged that the risk of the human form of BSE - variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) - being transmitted through blood transfusions might be considerably higher than previously thought.

Tests at the Institute of Animal Health revealed one in six animals given blood from sheep infected with a similar disease went on to develop the illness.

Public Health Minister Hazel Blears said: "Although there is no evidence that vCJD has been transmitted through human blood, it is right that we should take this precautionary step to protect those babies and young children born after January 1, 1996, who should not have been exposed to BSE via the food chain."

Plasma is the fluid in which the red and white blood cells and platelets are carried around the body. It is used to treat premature babies, and babies and children having heart surgery, liver transplants and after major injuries.

Plasma is also given to patients with blood-clotting problems and to people in intensive care units.

Today Pat Troop, the deputy chief medical officer, insisted on BBC Radio that the use of US plasma was only a precaution.

The move was welcomed by Frances Hall of the Human BSE Foundation.

But she said it might be only a matter of time before cases of the illness occur worldwide. What was needed was a blood test so each unit could be checked before use.